Archive for November 29th, 2011

“Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher death, and God adore.
What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,
But gives that hope to be thy blessing now.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”
-Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

Hope lately feels like a weighted mist surrounding me. A breeze of reality blows through and hope recedes.”Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” or “Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.”
Are hope and faith the same?
The past year of my life has been consumed by this word HOPE. Instead of looking at the troubles of the world I have been instead looking for hope.
Does this mean I have faith? Is hope a non-believer’s version of faith? Is hope also a recognition of having little influence or control over an outcome? Is being hopeful the same as being faithful?
Hope is a trusting in an expectation. Faith is also a trust in someone of something, but leans in the direction of spirituality, something affecting the spirit or soul. Hope up against faith seems watered down.
To say I am hopeful is to expect something to turn out the way I want it to as in “I hope you are well” or “I hope to see you again.”
To have faith is to let go of the expectation but to be convinced by a building of trust in the outcome that is best.